Commentary: What is your 'office personality'?

Byline: Nancy Byerly Jones

Let's assume that your firm has decided to quit calling everyone by their names. Instead, they will call each person by the alias most descriptive of their dominant office personality. Which one of the following aliases might be bestowed upon you?

Mr./Ms. Positive or Negativity? Decisive or Procrastinator? Assertive or Aggressive? Team Player or My-Way-Or-No-Way? Disorganized or Planner? Calm or Hyper? What's-Best-For-The-Client or What's-In-It-For-Me?

Most of us are some mix of these or other types, but one personality usually dominates. And taking a moment to consider what best describes your dominant work personality can be very helpful in making some workplace assessments.

I see all of the office personalities listed above and plenty of other types in offices across the country in my consulting work with attorneys and staff. Too often, it seems the less desirable personalities outnumber the good ones. Worse, they are allowed to flourish in too many situations. Firm leaders may actually enable the perpetuation of negative behavior by ignoring it and not holding the culprits accountable for the damage they inevitably cause. Conversely, positive personalities are rarely rewarded adequately, if at all, for the many benefits reaped from their can-do attitudes, thoughtfulness and sense of vision and smart business planning.

So what are the potential harmful results of allowing negative personalities to spread their toxic vibes amidst the troops? Some of the less desirable office personalities may ask, "So what if I'm Mr./Ms. Negative? I do my job well and bring in plenty of income for the firm. I'm not here to win a popularity contest." And naysayers work hard to convince us that needed changes won't work, people can't change and it's a waste of time to do things just for the sake of building or maintaining office morale. They suggest that's "warm and fuzzy stuff" and not fitting for real lawyers.

But this is the wrong approach. Because rewarding negative personalities while not celebrating positive ones can lead to firms with communication deficits, ongoing internal feuds, behind-the-times technology, sloppy, if any, true marketing, inadequate associate development, dangerously skimpy risk management and much more.